Twitter is being sued for unpaid bills

Landlords, consultants and vendors have brought claims against Twitter for payment of bills in nine lawsuits, the Wall Street Journal reported. The plaintiffs intend to recover more than $14 million and interest on that amount from the social networking company owner.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company has faced an increase in claims that it is not paying its bills as management seeks to reach break-even in 2023.

Among the overdue claims is an invoice for nearly $7,000 for a "gift box for Ilon" that Twitter's marketing department ordered days before the $44 billion deal closed last Oct. 27.

Restructuring expert Van Conway said that, in effect, Musk is mimicking Twitter's bankruptcy.

Since October, Musk has laid off tens of thousands of employees, and the layoffs continued this January. The businessman is trying to make excuses for expenses, including $13 million a year for staff lunches at Twitter headquarters.

Last year, Musk complained that the company was losing more than $4 million a day and did not rule out bankruptcy proceedings. Since then, however, according to Twitter's head, the company has made progress.

Three lawsuits against Twitter in the U.S. involve office space, including the company's San Francisco headquarters. The landlord claims that Twitter failed to pay nearly $6.8 million in rent for the December 2022 and January 2023 leases.

The company is no longer releasing financial data. Last year, Twitter said it owed $239 million in rent for office space and data center spaces.

At a lawsuit in January, marketing company Canary announced that Twitter had not paid $400,000 for various products with the social network's brand.

Twitter's nearly $200,000 in arrears for flights was reported by aviation company Private Jet Services, which also filed a related lawsuit. Marty O'Neil, Twitter's head of strategic supply chain, wrote that the company would not pay for the flights. He added that Twitter is not liable because only designated representatives have the ability to book flights through a charter under a contract with Private Jet Services.

According to court documents, the contracts for the flights were negotiated by Twitter's previous head, Parag Agrawal. On Feb. 17, the charter company filed an application to voluntarily dismiss the case.